At 08:38 AM 2/11/02 -0500, you wrote:
>One of my students found a photograph of Picasso in his Psychology book
>where he's drawing in the air with a "faciful light-pen." . . . .
>Very cool. Michelle

This is a wonderful example of how an artist learns. I often ask students
practice observation drawing in the air before drawing on paper. It is a
wonderful way to overcome some of the fear of drawing.

If it is contour drawing, I ask them to point in the air to the contour or
edge of the figure and move slowly along the edge while sighting the
convergence of the pencil point and the edge they are drawing.

If it is gesture drawing, I ask them to point the pencil in the air to the
central most massive part of the figure. I then ask them to very rapidly
move over every part of the figure but NOT to ever follow any edges or
contours of the figure.

I make a point to pose the figure with fairly interesting leg and arm
positions. I believe we help students learn how to learn when we encourage
them to practice more and when we change their habits of work by giving
them new ways to learn that are hard enough to be challenging, but easy
enough not to be discouraging.
Marvin